Out of the Hearts of Children

As most of you know, I teach 3rd grade in the inner city here in Phoenix. It is what I believe my calling is ... my mission if you will. I just love the kids I work with. I love their families. I love what I do. (Even in the recession, even with a possible pay cut because of the deficit, even with the bureaucracy that seems rampant.)

Today was an amazing day. Not because my kiddos immediately caught on to what I was teaching. Not because their test scores on the post test for standard S1C3P02 were great, for the most part. Not because I work with great people on my team. Not because we are on a collision course with a THREE day weekend! But because of Haiti. Before you totally freak out at that thought, let me explain. The horrible tragedy in Haiti gave me a chance to witness the most tender hearts of the children in room 12.

We had just finished tossing around a few different ways to multiply that beat the age old algorithm hands down in speed and ease. (Let's just say that over half of my third graders were able to multiply two 2-digit numbers correctly within the space of 20 minutes.) One of my sweetest little girls came up to the desk and asked, "Mrs. Day, have you heard about Haiti?" I told her that I had. She explained that her mother and her had found a site that they could use to donate money to help the people of Haiti. She then asked if we could do something. "We, like this class, this school?" I asked. She confirmed that this was indeed what she was asking. "What would you like to do?" I said, not sure just what she had in mind. "A coin collection. Mrs. Day. We could have everyone bring in their coins. We could send them to them." Heart touched beyond measure, I asked the class what they thought, explaining that they would have to do it all. They screamed, "Yeah! Yes!" in one loud exclamation.

We began by visiting carefully screened photos of the devastation together on the Internet. (I did not want them to see the pictures of death that I felt might be more of a parent's choice, but in screening them I saw them all.) The room was still and the children looked at each image, commenting on each image briefly ... sharing their feelings about the rubble, the packed hospitals, the people looting in the streets, the children ... children just like them .. who were suffering. Then we watched a video that explained earthquakes so that they would understand just what had caused all that they had seen. When we were done, I set them to the task of making a To Do List for tomorrow. On their list are, making posters for the hall, researching facts about Haiti, writing announcements for the mornings next week, figuring out what to keep the money in, and creating a flier to send home to parents. So that is what we are doing tomorrow in room 12. 21 little kids are working to make a difference ... to help ... and I had nothing to do with it.

Oh, I saved the best part for last. During the food drive at Thanksgiving the classes that collected 2 complete food boxes received a Hot Cheetos Party. I asked my class if they wanted to offer a prize for the classroom at each grade level that collected the most money. One little voice rang out, "No Mrs. Day. No prize. Helping is the prize."

From the hearts of children ... great truths are spoken.